Goodwill Industries International has been in operation for more than 100 years since it was established in 1902. The industries were initially designed to provide humanitarian assistance to the struggling immigrants. They gave the employees the basic education as well as language training. They assist the people in the community to lead healthy and positively in the community. The industries have the core mission to respect dignity of individuals through elimination of bottlenecks to opportunity via the power of work. Goodwill attains this objective by putting 84 percent of the revenue back to the business to provide employment opportunities, which in 2008 was equivalent to $3.23 billion. Goodwill is a worldwide social services enterprise, which generates opportunities for people to attain economic stability and fabricate strong families and pulsating communities by offering job training, employment placement services, as well as other community-based programs for persons who have disabilities, those who lack education or job experience, and others who face problems finding employment (Klubeck, 2011).
Goodwill believes in the philosophy that each customer in the store counts and they have laid down many marketing strategies, which has ensured that have large customer base. Goodwill has ensured that the customers or clients they serve get what they require at an opportune time. The organization has attracted several customers who have purchased their products and donated some to the company. These donations from the customers are used to assist the community. The organization sells donated clothes as well as other household products in over 2700 retail stores as well as online shopping as a marketing strategy. Customers of Goodwill Industries are usually people who are disadvantaged in some way (Ciletti, 2011). Individuals with mental, as well as physical disabilities, profit from training and assistance through Goodwill. In addition, people who have had restricted access to education, and those reliant on government aid, older adults, and homeless populace also benefit. Thus, training people to work, Goodwill Industries hope to decrease their dependence on charity, allowing customers to live independent lives. Therefore, this will ensure that these people live positive lives that developing their communities.
In order for the organization to add value to their products, they have embraced quality control systems that ensure that customers’ demands are met adequately. This powerful tool will ensure that customers are satisfied. In addition, Goodwill understands the fact that their customers value quality, and it will be paramount to employ quality processes for both products and services. This will demand that the organization train personnel who will ensures that high quality service delivery, as well as products (Klubeck, 2011). Goodwill operates with efficient quality control procedures as well as standards, which ensures that customers become satisfied when they use their services and products. Furthermore, the organization recruits production supervisors that have excellent manufacturing as well as industrial backgrounds, which will make sure that the element of quality controlled is enhanced. The Goodwill’s customers are pleased with the element of timeless as well as quality work offered by the professionals in the company. Therefore, in order for the company to influence its customers to continue visiting their stores have ensured that the quality of their products is superior. In addition, the organization provides quick service to its clients, which is a strategy that has assisted the company to pool many customers to their stores (Ciletti, 2011).
In addition, for Goodwill to increase its customer base as well as customer satisfaction, it has adopted effective promotional strategies. The promotion strategy in an organization plays a leading role towards ensuring that brand awareness has been increased. The organization has adopted a wide variety of social media to promote its range of products and services. The reputation of Goodwill has changed in the past because of the social media campaigns. This has increased awareness among the customers attracting new customers. Furthermore, the social media has also raised awareness on donations, which has increased donations of the organization. Goodwill through the social media has opted to increase its customers and donor base by reaching hipper audience and youths. The organization also uses digital marketing together with social media marketing to influence behaviors of their customers. Pricing was another strategy that was employed by Goodwill. The organization offered low prices, which was friendly to its clients (Ciletti, 2011).
There are different factors that have been cited as influencing customer behavior in the organization. Cultural factors have influenced most of the customers in Goodwill. The company having being established for more than 100 years has created a dominant culture that of shopping and donation. The different customers have learned to donate as well as shop in Goodwill stores. This has been able to create a group of loyal customers that cannot be convinced otherwise. A culture that promotes donation as well as shopping has made the organization be successfully. Social factors also influence the consumer behavior. For instance, young and hipper customers have been attracted to the organization through introduction of social media and digital marketing. Personal factors among Goodwill customers have influenced the purchasing patterns. The economic situation of customers has made them buy from the organization. In addition, individual customers perceive that the services and products of Goodwill are of high quality, and they are influenced to buy them. The psychological factors that influence customer behavior in Goodwill includes attitudes of customers and motivation. The organization motivates its employees in regular basis thus, making them buy its products. In addition, the customers have the attitude that no other organization can offer superior products, as does Goodwill (Klubeck, 2011).
Since the company adopted the social media and digital marketing strategies, the organization has increased its performance level. The market environment has been favorable since these strategies were launched by the organization. This means that the organization has witnessed the growth in terms of sales and revenues, which has boosted its performance. The metrics that indicated that the business was successful was that of increased customers. As a result of increased social media campaign and digital marketing, the organization attracted new customers that increased its customer base. Moreover, the profitability of the organization increased following the introduction of the two marketing strategies (Ciletti, 2011).
The marketing strategies that were employed by the Goodwill were effective because it witnessed increased number of customers and profitability. These marketing strategies were workable and produced positive results. The management understood the fact that, the use of effective marketing strategies will play a leading role towards attaining the desired marketing goals. Furthermore, the organization believes that understanding customer’s behavior was very vital in ensuring the right marketing mix is applied. The organization understood that customers have increasingly used social media, and digital marketing to attract more customers. In addition, they understand offering quality products and services could lead to customer satisfaction. Lastly, the organization understood the fact that reasonable prices could be effective in attracting customers to their stores (Klubeck, 2011).
References
Ciletti, D. (2011). Marketing yourself. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Klubeck, M. (2011). Metrics: How to improve key business results. Berkeley, CA: Apress.
